Differentiation involves developing learning experiences that cater for the individual needs, interests, abilities and prior learning of every student. Understanding how to engage in effective differentiation can help create an inclusive learning environment in which all students are able to fully participate.

Fernhill School caters for diverse learners from kindergarten to year 12 and is located on Darug Country in Greater Western Sydney. In this video, Assistant Principal and teacher Krista-Ann, describes how differentiation supports the learning of students with diverse physical and communication abilities. 

The importance of conducting formative assessment to identify the learning progress of each individual student, and of working with colleagues when programming, is also covered. 

Reflection questions

1. In this video, Krista-Ann describes how she develops multimodal learning activities that support the engagement of students with diverse communication and physical abilities. Thinking about the students you teach, how might you also create multimodal learning activities for them?
2. In this video, Krista-Ann talks about the ways in which formative assessments and collaboration with colleagues can help inform differentiated programming. Thinking about your own context, are there changes you could make to your programming approach that would allow for deeper consideration of student strengths, abilities and prior learning?